I have been growing ashwagandha on 4 acres since 2022, so here is the honest arithmetic. Seed cost me around Rs 1,400 per acre. Sowing is late June, harvest around 160-170 days. Last season I got roughly 4.5 quintal of dry root per acre. The part nobody warns you about is drying. If root moisture is above 10 percent the buyer rejects the lot or cuts the rate. I lost most of one season margin learning that. Now I dry on a raised platform under shade for 7-8 days, never directly on the ground. Rate has moved between Rs 180 and Rs 320 per kg depending on root thickness and how clean the lot is. Thick roots with no soil fetch the top rate.